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The Lady from Baltimore |
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"I gave it a four. Deborah Banning is one of the nastiest villains ever to set foot on the Ponderosa. She's willing to sacrifice her daughter's happiness for money by forcing her on one of Ben's sons. At the end, she has no remorse for what she's done. There's the usual Joe falling head-over-heels in love with a pretty face belonging to a girl he hardly knows and Ben being so grand-child crazy that he's all for it. Hoss doesn't get to do a whole lot in this episode, other than help with the branding and sit at the table during that first supper. The writers have Adam kissing a woman who's engaged to one of his younger brothers and getting caught. It's strange that Joe "proposed" and didn't say a word about it to Pa and really out of character for Adam to run away from a problem rather than confront it. I wish this episode could have been a 2-parter with Hoss having a greater role playing peace-maker between Adam and Joe. This is one of my favorite episodes, which is why I'm inclined to give it a higher rating than I might otherwise." - patina "Deborah is nasty but Melinda is a spineless airhead. (I cringe when after Adam says it's barbed wire, Melinda says it has sharp points. Well, duh!) If Melinda had any backbone, she'd have stood up to her mother. I admit my favorite scenes are the ones with Adam. I like the way he teases Joe about the wine in the scene in the kitchen and his anger when he asks Melinda what kind of woman she is. He then gives her a chance to be honest, which she doesn't take advantage of. I admit he is downright rude in the branding scene but I like the interplay between him and Hoss after Joe takes the Bannings back to the house. That seemed very natural. I agree about seeing Hoss play peacemaker between his brothers. Then there's that kiss. I do wish Adam had pushed Melinda away sooner, but hey, he is a man and she is lovely, even if I don't think he likes her or is particularly attracted to her. Just moments before the kiss, he was treating her as an annoying child who was bothering him when he was clearly busy.
I have to give it a decent rating for the scenes I do watch. I confess I rarely watch the entire episode." - Deborah "I like this episode, but it's difficult for me to pinpoint exactly why. Mercedes McCambridge does a great job as the mother; she has "charm" but she is so shallow that the viewers can see right through it. But unfortunately, Joe cannot, and he is fascinated by Melinda and the exotic life she apparently leads. Plus she is very pretty and delicate; obviously Joe is going to fall for her! At least Melinda redeems herself; she likes Joe well enough to tell him that she doesn't love him. I'll give the writers credit for the ending; Deborah Banning shows absolutely no remorse for what she did, which I think is in character. Ooh, how I hated her! Again, great job by Miss McCambridge. " - ellen "This is the kind of episode that drives me to distraction... Clearly Deborah Banning is the kind of woman who has no respect for her husband, why this is, is mindless. So the Bannings don't have a big house, servants and he doesn't have a high profile position, raking in the big bucks. Sooo what has this to do with a western? Besides the gratuitous sex scenes with Melinda showing her form coming out of a bath and stealing a kiss from the accommodating Adam, we have poor Little Joe who doesn't come off so much as a ladies' man than confused. If he believes he loves this girl enough to propose marriage to her, why doesn't he wait a short time to see what develops and see if she's got any real feelings for him? Thankfully Hoss is spared this soap opera nonsense and is shortly out of the picture. I think he should be left alone to do what rancher's sons do and attend to the business of the Ponderosa. Is there something in the Hoss Cartwright contract that states on page forty two paragraph seven that Hoss must act as mediator between Adam and Joe when they bicker? If Adam and Joe have something to work out between them, leave it to them to work it out on their own. I can imagine that there's tons of interesting situations that can occur in the day to day operations of the Ponderosa and their business dealings with business men and women. Putting the Bannings into the picture equals Cartwright interruptus. Did Ben send off his old friend Banning with a letter of reference and a check?" - Blue Velvet "I gave this one a 4 as well as it does have some redeeming features. Poor Joe was so young and impressionable. Never having lived away from the Ponderosa he would probably be taken in by the stories of servants and big houses that the Bannings talked about, unlike Adam who had seen more of the world. As for the kiss...well Adam didn't know about Joe's engagement, although I'm quite sure he was well aware of Joe's interest in the girl. Much as I'm not a big fan of the 'romantic' episodes, I think we would get equally bored if all we saw was the boys branding cattle and riding fence each week.
I'm now beginning to wonder why I gave it a 4!!!" - territell "I love this episode. Now about the kiss when Melinda kisses Adam - for someone that did not know he was going to be kissed, he closed his eyes and did not push her away fast." - KellyCartwright "I gave it a 5 - I thought Mercedes McCambridge did an amazing job as Deborah Banning, she really made that character as hateful as they come. The character of Melinda was, as others said, quite wishy-washy, but that was the result of a daughter being hammered by her overbearing mother for years. She knew she couldn't win with her. A good story, good acting, and an appearance at the end by Hayden Rorke (Dr. Bellows to us 'I Dream of Jeannie' fans) made this one that I always enjoy watching." - DonnaB "Light, amusing. A show for the whole family." - Haoundist "I gave it a 4.5. Great acting by all, Especially by Mercedes McCambridge . I did not really care for Melinda. I did feel sorry for her,because of her very nasty mother." - FanofoldTVshows "I gave it a 4 only because it is one that I watch, and of course I watch anything Little Joe is in. It's far from a favorite but still in the line up " - jfclover |
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Bonanza Episode Guide by Julie-Ann Sanderson © 2008 |
